Capistrano Valley Saving Its Strength : Wrestling: Cougars will forgo dual-meet team championship to target Southern Section individual meet.

What appeared to be the biggest surprise of the pairings for the Southern Section dual-meet team wrestling playoffs proved to be no surprise at all.

After the pairings were announced Sunday, the absence of South Coast League champion Capistrano Valley in the Division I draw wasn’t the glaring omission many thought it was.

The Cougars, the only top-10 county team excluded in the Division I, II, III or IV playoff draws, chose not to enter dual-team postseason play.

“I’ve gotten a lot of calls about it,” Capistrano Valley Coach Joe Zeller said. “We decided we didn’t want to go to duals with the rest of (the Southern Section playoffs) coming up.”

Zeller’s reasoning, which the majority of his team shared, was that the dual championships--beginning with Wednesday’s first round--are scheduled too close to the section individual championships Friday and Saturday. The Cougars simply didn’t want to spread themselves too thin.

“We’re sending 10 wrestlers to individuals,” he said. “If they do both, they have to hold weight three days, and that’s tough. Most of them felt, let’s just go with individuals . . . We probably would have done well, but if you don’t get to finals, the kids don’t get that much out of it. They just get beat up.”

Next year, the duals will be scheduled at least a week in advance of the individual tournament, to the relief of many coaches.

Laguna Hills Coach Cliff Jarmie, whose Hawks are seeded second in the Division III draw--defending State champion Calvary Chapel is top-seeded--said the change can’t come quickly enough.

“Next year, teams are done early, so (wrestlers) can concentrate on individuals,” he said.

Until then, Laguna Hills, winner of seven consecutive Pacific Coast League titles, will concentrate on Wednesday’s opponent, Corona Centennial. A victory would have the Hawks facing the winner of Sunny Hills-Long Beach Millikan in the second round.

“It’s a tough draw,” Jarmie said. “We’re going to use it as a practice setting with individuals in mind.”

The Division III pairings showcase several county teams, including co-Freeway League champions Buena Park and Sunny Hills and Sea View League champion Irvine.

In Division I, top-seeded El Modena, San Clemente, Orange League champion Anaheim and at-large Edison will wrestle at El Modena and at-large Brea-Olinda and Sunset League champion Santa Ana compete at Ventura.

In Division II, Empire League champion and at-large Los Alamitos compete at West Torrance. County Division IV participants are Garden Grove and Los Amigos.